One True Rival
by RosalindHawkins
Summary: Can Yugi's love free Seto from his step-father's lingering influence? Can Kaiba really commit to a relationship with his rival, or will his ego tear them apart? Features: Rivalshipping, Adoptshipping, Prideshipping, Scandalshipping, Rewindshipping, Stoicshipping, Blindshipping, Puzzleshipping, Flareshipping. Yaoi. Rated M for lemon/smut, angst, non-con, child abuse. Drabbles. PWP.
1. Rival

**Author Notes:** All dialogue in italics is taken straight from the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh Season 3 Episode 13 [(c) Kazuki Takahashi]. Enjoy!

* * *

 _"Yes, he and I have a history as well,"_ Noah said in his obnoxious voice as he draped one arm across the back of the couch.

 _"It's Noah and Kaiba!"_ Tea exclaimed as she and Yugi entered the room. _"But what's going on?"_ Yugi didn't attempt to answer, simply rushed over to his rival and handed him the photograph he and Tea had found.

 _"Does this mean anything to you Kaiba?"_ he asked.

Upon examining the image, Kaiba scoffed, _"Huh, it's a trick. This is a picture of my step-father."_

 _"Your step-dad? With Noah?"_ Yugi had known that Kaiba was adopted; he'd learned as much in Duelist Kingdom. He hadn't known that he resented his step-dad so much.

 _"Pay attention to the show, Seto!"_ Noah snapped, interrupting their exchange. _"I think it will clear things up for you."_ Yugi, Tea, and Seto turned their attention to the scene unfolding before them. They watched Gozaburo tell Noah that Seto and Mokuba were his latest "acquisitions," that Seto was extremely intelligent, that he was there to challenge Noah to improve.

 _"After all, if I'm going to hand KaibaCorp over to YOU someday, Noah, you'll have to prove to me that you have the intellect it takes to run a company of this magnitude."_

 _"Alright, you won't be disappointed Father,"_ Noah responded smugly. Tea gasped in shock and Yugi's eyes widened.

 _"What did he say?"_ Seto demanded, unable to believe his ears.

 _"That's his dad!"_ Yugi answered as he came to stand next to Kaiba.

 _"Not quite what you were expecting, is it Seto? You and I being step-brothers. But it's all true. I am Gozaburo's one true son, and I was always supposed to inherit his empire. You were nothing more than another one of my father's servants, brought in to motivate me. That's the only reason my father let riffraff like YOU into his house: to train me! And that's the story of how an orphan with no class became the CEO of KaibaCorp."_

As Noah spoke, the office they were in faded away, and Seto recognized the room that had been used for his lessons. A stone settled into the pit of his stomach as he realized what Noah was doing now. A new scene was unfolding before them, and it was the last thing Seto Kaiba wished to see.

Tea gasped again as she recognized the child wearing a dog collar as Seto, wincing in sympathy as an angered Gozaburo lifted the child by the front of his shirt, yelling cruel words before throwing him to the floor and giving him a hard kick. Tea quickly covered her face with her hands, unable to watch, but sick as he felt, Yugi found himself incapable of looking away. The child huddled into a ball on the floor, crying out in pain as he was beaten, was the same proud man he'd fallen in love with, the same proud man who went to the furthest extremes to demonstrate his total, absolute superiority and skill. As Gozaburo's image yelled disparaging, degrading things at the child, Yugi finally understood why Seto was always trying to prove himself the best: he needed to prove to himself and the world that Gozaburo had been wrong. Eventually, Mr. Kaiba exited the room, leaving the ten-year-old Seto a shivering, weeping mess on the floor.

Yugi looked up at Seto's face to see that the CEO stood as rigidly as stone, his face impassive, but his jaw clenched. His eyes glaring at everything in front of him, but unfocused. A muscle twitched in his cheek as he watched the memories he'd worked so hard to forget. Yugi glanced around, wanting to ask Noah what the point was the point of showing them all this, but Noah was nowhere in sight.

"Seto? Are you alright?" he asked in a whisper. Seto didn't answer him, didn't even seem to hear him. He tentatively slipped his hand into Seto's, loosening the tight fist that was clenched at his side so that their fingers could interlock. Seto started and glanced down at Yugi, his face still tense, but his eyes no longer empty. They were filled with pain, and Yugi knew in that moment that what Noah had shown them had actually happened. He wished that he could say something to make this better, but he didn't know what could possibly make a situation like this less traumatic for Kaiba.

"Is it over?" Tea asked, sounding distressed. Seto and Yugi quickly let go of each other, embarrassed. Seto crossed his arms, his mouth drawn in a hard line as he stared ahead of him once more.

"Yeah, it's over," Yugi answered sadly, still looking up at Seto.

"Kaiba, did that actually happen?" Tea asked in disbelief as she uncovered her eyes.

"That's none of your business," he growled.

* * *

"Does Mokuba know?" Yugi asked out of the blue. Seto, who was currently laying on his back across the couch with his head in Yugi's lap, opened his eyes.

"Know what?" he asked, confused. They'd escaped the virtual world and had almost reached their destination, so the two were stealing some time to be alone together.

"That Gozaburo hurt you," the champion answered softly, trying to be sensitive about the subject.

"Hell no," Seto snapped, frowning. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Have you ever talked to anyone about it?" Yugi ran his fingers through Seto's dark hair, savoring its silky texture.

"No," he muttered, closing his eyes for a few moments. He was clearly uncomfortable with the topic and Yugi was starting to feel guilty for bringing it up.

"If you ever do want to talk about it, I'm always here for you," Yugi murmured, leaning down to kiss Seto's forehead. His lover wound his fingers into Yugi's hair and shifted his head so that their lips met in an oddly angled kiss.

"Thank you," Seto murmured against Yugi's lips, his voice pained. He hated admitting that he had been weak and in pain, that he had been unable to defend himself.

"Anytime, Seto. Anytime."


	2. Adopt

**Author Notes:** This takes place during Seto's childhood and then jumps ahead to the Season Three Virtual World arc. This one is really intense, more intense than my usual stuff, but it was written for a request, so here it is. Requests are super-welcome and can be placed in the reviews and by voting in the poll in my profile. Enjoy!

* * *

Seto Kaiba, even as a twelve-year-old kid, would do anything to protect his younger brother. Mokuba was the only family he had, the only person he loved or cared about. That was why he now hated himself for trying to fight back when Gozaburo started to beat him this time around. Gozaburo had been so enraged by Seto's resistance that he'd immediately announced that he was going to beat Mokuba. The child had immediately panicked, screaming that he'd do anything, anything at all, if only Gozaburo would not lay a hand on his little brother. Of course Gozaburo had known that Seto would react that way. That was exactly what he'd wanted to hear.

That's why he now had his adopted son bound, gagged, on his hands and knees, the child buck-naked and quivering in fear as his step-father seized his narrow hips and rubbed his erection between Seto's legs, making him whimper.

"Keep quiet, my boy," Gozaburo chuckled. "Or I'll have to silence you in my own way." Seto turned out to be unable to restrain himself from making noise, and each time he made a sound, his step-father brought the short whip down across his back. Tears streamed down the child's cheeks as he forced himself to cope with the pain in silence, when really all he really wanted to do was scream.

* * *

"Gozaburo!" Six years later, an eighteen-year-old Seto burst through a door in the Virtual World to see Gozaburo sitting in _his_ chair, at _his_ desk, in _his_ office, at _his_ company.

"Long time, no see, Seto," Gozaburo chuckled, and before Seto could react, Gozaburo used his thoughts to slam the door shut, remove Seto's coat, and clasp his son in shackles. A jolt of panic shocked Seto out of the confident, calm demeanor he'd worked so hard to create for himself. "I've been lonely here in the Virtual World for so long. I was hoping you would come and visit me."

Seto's chest tightened with a fear he hadn't felt for several years as he realized what Gozaburo was planning. "No, I'm not a child anymore, Gozaburo. You can't force me." He tried to sound calm, but there was a quiver in his voice that betrayed him. This was all a nightmare come true. No, this wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening.

"That's where you're wrong, Seto! I have absolute power in this world, and there's nothing you can do to resist me."

Seto could feel his heart pounding in his chest like a jackhammer as Gozaburo stood and moved to stand in front of him. When had he picked up that whip? This one was different from the one he'd used on Seto as a child. This one was longer and more vicious; as Gozaburo got closer and Seto got a better look at it, he could see bits of barbed wire and broken glass embedded in its length. Gozaburo shifted the whip from one hand to another, and the movement made Seto flinch. Gozaburo chuckled again.

"Good to see that all my years of careful training haven't gone to waste," he gloated, before lifting the whip and snapping it in the air behind him. "On your hands and knees, now!" Seto dropped to his knees, letting them smack the hard floor with a thud, then leaned forward to put the rest of his weight on his hands, his head low as Gozaburo's conditioning was reawakened within his mind. His body began to tremble in fear, something it hadn't done since he was a child. "Good dog." Gozaburo was suddenly behind him, reaching around to undo his pants and pull them and his briefs down to his knees. Seto's throat closed over as he squeezed his eyes shut.

 _No, no, **NO** …_

* * *

"Yugi, Seto's being held captive by my father at the top of the KaibaCorp Headquarters!" Noah said frantically. "I need you to go back and free him so that he can return to the real world as well!"

"You got it, Noah!" Yugi hurried to the location Noah Kaiba had mentioned. Even though Kaiba refused to acknowledge any of them as friends, Yugi knew that they and Mokuba were the best friends Seto had in the whole world.

When he opened the door of Seto's office, he wasn't prepared for what he saw. He never expected to see his arch-rival a bloodied mess huddled in a ball in the corner on the floor (no longer chained, although Yugi didn't know that he had been). It was pathetic enough that the violence it implied made Yami take over, protective of Yugi. Gozaburo was sitting on the edge of his desk smoking a cigar, looking incredibly pleased with himself. A bloody whip lay across his desk, and Yugi felt sick to look at it.

"What have you done to him?" Yami demanded of Gozaburo. Seeing the great Seto Kaiba reduced to a trembling mass of blood and tears shook him to his core. What manner of man was this who could do such a thing to someone so strong and proud? Gozaburo laughed like the evil maniac he was.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Gozaburo retorted smugly. Yami rushed over to Seto, glancing over his shoulder at Gozaburo just once before he knelt beside his rival, all of his attention focused on the injured teen in front of him. Seto had his arms wrapped around his head, and only now could he hear what Seto was whispering to himself.

"This isn't happening, not again, not again. This isn't happening, this can't be happening…" The phrases repeated over and over again, and Yami recognized the behavior all too well. It had been in a vision shown to him by the Millennium Rod: a young priest Seto being raped as a child, and the only way he could cope with the painful reality was by denying it entirely.

"Kaiba…" Yami murmured, resting a hand gently on Seto's shoulder. The former champion flinched at the sudden contact and opened his eyes, blinking in surprise as if he hadn't realized that Yugi had entered the room. More tears fell from those deep blue eyes as he fell silent and shame registered in his expression. "Kaiba, we need to leave now. The entire network is about to be destroyed, and if we're still here when that happens, we'll die too!"

"Yugi…" It was all he could say in response. His eyes flicked back to his step-father, whom Yugi's spirit was still watching with fear. Just as Yugi screamed a warning to the Pharaoh, Seto moved suddenly, and for a few moments, Yami was disoriented. Then he heard a weak sound of pain from Kaiba, and he realized what had happened. Seto's arms had wrapped around him as he put himself between his step-father and his rival, letting the whiplash be absorbed into his already bleeding body.

"Kaiba, you protected me… Thank you." The words seemed so inadequate, but Yami was all too aware of their time constraint. "We must hurry if we're going to survive this."

"Pharaoh, he's going to—" Yugi began to call out a warning to Yami, but it was too late to do Seto any good, for Yugi's cry was cut off as Seto grunted with pain again, the sound of the whip striking his back making Yami's stomach churn.

"He's not going anywhere, isn't that right, my boy?"

"Yes, father," Seto muttered resentfully.

"Now get off of him, or did you not get enough earlier?" The mocking tone in Gozaburo's voice confused Yugi for a moment before it finally clicked for him what had happened. As Seto let go of Yami and dropped himself on the floor, leaning back against the wall as he turned his face away in shame, Yami straightened up and turned around, seeing the sick expression on Yugi's face as his hikari understood the situation.

"Just go, Yugi," Seto whispered, looking at the floor as he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. "No point in both of us dying."

"What?!" Yami couldn't believe his ears as he watched the best duelist he'd ever faced give up so easily. Or, perhaps, it wasn't quite so easy… How long had Seto been trapped up here with Gozaburo? How long had it taken the monster to destroy his step-son's spirit?

"No, Kaiba, I'm not leaving without you," Yami insisted stubbornly, bending over and taking Seto's shaking hands in his own, pulling him up into an unsteady standing position. Seto sagged forward against Yami for a split second, then Yami heard Yugi scream out another warning as Seto quickly pushed Yami against the wall and put himself between Yami and the whip yet again.

"Get out of here while you still can, Yugi!" Seto insisted, panting with the mere effort it took to stand.

"You should listen to my son, Yugi," Gozaburo added lazily and took another drag from his cigar. "He's a genius, you know."

"No thanks to you!" Yami snapped back, putting an around the taller teen and helping to support him as he led him to the door. "Noah, we need a shortcut out of here! Seto can't go very far!" he shouted into the air, praying to the gods that Noah had heard him.

"I'm working on it!" came the answer almost immediately. Yami continued to lead Seto to the door, blocking the brunette's view of his step-father. He let out a cry as the whip struck his own back, Seto flinching at the sound of the whip and tightening his hold on his rival.

"Yugi…" He sounded so pained, it made Yugi want to cry as he watched on, feeling helpless.

"We _must_ keep going," Yami ordered, grimacing in pain as he lead Kaiba forward.

Gozaburo then cracked the whip in the air, making Seto flinch and close his eyes. _Snap, snap, snap_ went the whip in the air, and Seto began to cower against the wall, unable to take another step forward.

"We're almost there," Yami grunted as he pulled Kaiba away from the wall. Never before had so short a distance seemed so far.

"Yugi, the shortcut is up! As soon as you exit the office, you'll be back in the real world! But you must hurry!" Noah shouted. Yugi came up along Seto's other side, helping in what little capacity he could as Yami lunged for the door, dragging Seto along with him, managing to save all three lives in the process and still shut Gozaburo out.

"Seto…" Yugi whispered as he sat up in the Virtual Reality pod, looking over at him with sad eyes. Seto stared straight ahead of him, his eyes focused on no point in particular as he spoke.

"I trust you not to tell anyone what you saw in there, Yugi." Yugi just nodded, blinking back tears as Seto turned his attention to waking Mokuba.


	3. Pride

**Author Notes:** Contains lemon/smut. Prideshipping as requested! Also kind-of Flareshipping. Enjoy and make a one-shot request of your own! Do so in a review or by voting in the poll on my profile.

* * *

It was Yami's first time spending the night with Seto. Not that Yugi hadn't already done so more than once, but Yami was usually respectful of their time together, so he would remain in his soul room to give them some privacy. This time, though, he hadn't been able to keep his feelings for Seto to himself any longer. He'd finally confessed to his hikari that he loved the young corporation president as much as he did. Yugi hadn't been surprised, and had suggested that the two of them go on their next date with Seto together, their minds in sync as if they were dueling. Seto hadn't noticed the difference; then again, he never had, so why should that change now?

Yami had then spent the night with Seto in his mansion, Yugi retreating to give them equal privacy. Something woke him up in the middle of the night, but at first, he couldn't tell why he'd awoken. After a few moments, he realized why. The Puzzle had sensed an evil presence in the room. He placed one hand on the Millennium Puzzle where it rested on the nightstand, trying to clarify the nature of the evil presence he felt.

A ghost. It clicked rather quickly once he was in contact with the Puzzle, and after a few moments, he could see its transparent form hunching over Kaiba as he slept, looking sinister and cruel as it caused the brunette intense nightmares. Yami's anger flared up within him to see the ghoul causing his dear lover such torture when he already tortured himself so much. He gripped the Puzzle in both hands and held it in front of himself as he focused his energy on it, working up the power it would take to exorcise the spirit. As the light from the Puzzle grew brighter, the ghost's form became more definite and Yami recognized, of all people, Gozaburo Kaiba. It made perfect sense that he should haunt his step-son now that his soul had been freed from the Virtual World and set loose into the supernatural realm of spirits that still lingered on earth.

Yami recalled the last time he'd seen Gozaburo: Seto had been severely injured and his step-father had just been standing there, smoking his damned cigar as he enjoyed watching the teen suffer. Yami's hatred for the monster and his love for Seto made his magic stronger, and as he aimed the force at the phantom. Gozaburo screamed silently in torment as his ghost was banished, and the Puzzle's glowing light went out when the revenant was completely gone. He set the Puzzle carefully back on the nightstand and let out a sigh of relief. It was high time that Seto was fully freed from his step-father's influence.

* * *

Seto jerked awake and sat up, gasping for air as he recovered himself after the nightmare. His hands went right to his heart, which felt like it was pounding so hard and fast that it would pound right out of his chest. He was almost paralyzed with bone-chilling fear.

"Oh god," he whispered, closing his eyes as tears began to flow, unbidden, down his cheeks.

"It's alright, Seto, you're safe."

Seto felt his lover's arms wrap around him as he whispered soothingly, leaning back and letting Seto rest against him. Seto pulled the sheet up to his face, hiding his tears as he breathed deeply in an attempt to slow his hyperactive heart. He couldn't rid himself of the dream, though, and a choked sob tore from his throat as it played out before his eyes repeatedly. The arms around him tightened and warm lips pressed against his forehead.

"It's okay to cry, Seto," he murmured sadly as he pulled the sheet away from his face to stare into those tearful sapphire eyes. "It's okay. You're _safe_ now. He can't hurt you ever again."

Seto opened his mouth to ask how he'd known who was dreaming about, but then he realized that was a stupid question. Who else in the world was capable of making Seto Kaiba cry, after all? Yami kissed Seto's forehead again, and Seto pulled the sheets up to dry his cheeks and eyes. His heart was still beating too fast and his hands had started to tremble with residual fear. Yami adjusted their embrace so that he could hold Seto's head against his chest and rub his back comfortingly.

When Seto was like this, naked and covered by nothing but his sheets, he seemed surprisingly small and vulnerable. Given his past, it made sense that he would wear those silly shoulder spikes and ridiculously huge coats to make himself look bigger. He didn't want to seem weak or fragile, because if he was perceived as weak, someone would try to hurt him, and he couldn't bear to be physically hurt ever again. Not that his stupidly long legs looked any shorter when he was naked; if anything, they looked even longer, which was part of what made him so attractive.

"I'm sorry I woke you," Seto murmured, closing his eyes as he tried to lose himself in Yami's warmth.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Seto," Yami whispered, running his fingers through Seto's silky hair. "I love you, and if you need me, then I'll always be here for you." Yami dipped his head down and caught Seto's lips in a kiss, successfully distracting his beloved from the upsetting content of his dream. Yami rolled Seto underneath him, pleasantly surprising the other and making his breath catch in his throat as he gasped, Yami's teeth latching onto Seto's neck.

"Yugi," he moaned, his fingers gripping his partner's back as his hips lifted from the mattress. Yami hushed him gently, stroking his side with one hand as he tried to relax him.

"I will always be here," he repeated in a whisper. As the two proceeded to make love, Yami went with his own instincts, which, for Seto, was different from their normal arrangement. Not that any of it was at all unpleasant; in fact, its novelty probably made it that much more intense and gratifying. Even more than that, it was an exercise in trust. Seto had to trust that Yami wouldn't hurt him, that he would prepare him adequately and bring him pleasure, which is exactly what he did in the end. Their post-coital embrace was silent and sweet, more like a subtle quest for reassurance and safety than anything else.

"I love you, Yugi," Seto murmured sleepily as he pressed a kiss to the underside of Yami's jaw. The Spirit of the Puzzle smiled languidly down at him and brushed his long bangs off of his forehead.

"I love you too, Seto, now go back to sleep. I promise you won't have anymore nightmares." Seto didn't know how he could make a promise like that, but when he woke up the next morning in his lover's arms, he found that he hadn't dreamed again.


	4. Scandal

"This is wrong," Seth whispered, flushed, as his young prince started to undress him.

"I won't tell if you won't," Atem murmured with a wink, pulling his own tunic off over his head and dropping it carelessly to the floor.

"I could get in trouble for this." Seth's eyes were wide with genuine fear even as they glazed over at the prospect of acquiring his secret desire.

"You need to relax," the prince purred before leaning down to kiss his companion. Seth couldn't resist the urge to return it, even as his stomach tied itself into knots at the possibility of somebody discovering them.

Then again, who would possibly discover them? Seth had been Atem's bedfellow for a few months now ever since the prince had been entrusted into his care as his companion and guardian. He was only a few years older than him, after all, and he could still pursue his priestly studies as he provided the prince with companionship. The point of having a companion was to teach him how to play nice with others while also giving him a loyal guardian in the present and a loyal adviser in the future. There were no guards in Atem's bedroom, and nobody would be entering until morning.

Their kiss was lingering and tentative, exploratory as they savored it. This was not Atem's first kiss, of course. He was of such an age that he could make use of the royal harem without causing scandal, and he had done so numerous times. For Seth, well, he was far less experienced, to say the least.

"If you really wanted me to stop, you would make," Atem murmured mischievously, moving down Seth's body to start kissing his neck as his partner gasped, trying to fight his body's reactions. Seth didn't truly want Atem to stop. Despite his cavalier ways and his proud bearing, the young prince had captured Seth's heart, a secret that the young priest-in-training was desperate to hide. The prince needed to some day marry a woman who could give him heirs, after all, and Seth didn't fit that criteria. The best he could have ever hoped for was a dalliance with the charming pharaoh-to-be, and a dalliance would have ended much too painfully for Seth. It would be hard for him to leave, hard for him to stop, hard for him to accept the end when it came. He'd rather keep his distance and protect his fragile heart from any unnecessary pain.

Yet here they were, naked in the prince's bed, and Seth didn't know how he could have been so foolish as to let this happen. Then again, it had been something of a surprise: Atem's proposition to him mere minutes ago, his stunned, flustered reaction rendering him incapable of firmly denying him before he gave himself away. He knew that Atem didn't tend to form particular attachments to any of his lovers, that he used them no more than a few times before he forgot about them entirely.

As Atem's mouth moved down to Seth's chest, Seth's fingers found their way into Atem's spiky hair. He groaned despite himself, and Atem chuckled hotly against his skin. How had the younger teen become so sexually precocious? Seth himself was quite the opposite, which was a fact that Atem found quite amusing. Seth wanted it too much to tell the prince to stop, but he was also too afraid of getting into trouble—and too inexperienced—to reciprocate. But when he felt the prince's lips on his erection, he felt that he needed to stop this.

"Atem," he panted, his body flushed with pleasure. "We shouldn't…"

"For once in your life, Seth, do something spontaneous."

* * *

Two weeks later, and they were still engaging in those activities nightly. It was far longer that Seth had expected it to last, and he was starting to realize that the prince was genuinely attached to him. It was heart-warming to realize that his affections were returned. For the first time in a long time, Seth didn't feel alone. Ever since he'd left his mother to pursue more seriously in the practice of priesthood, he'd been on his own. Now, with Atem, that long-lasting loneliness was starting to fade. Atem had even admitted that he had a strong affection for him, that he didn't plan on dropping him any time soon.

Then one night, Atem went to bed to find Seto already there, huddled on the far side of the bed. He was shocked when Seth spurned his initial advances. He didn't know how to handle this first road-bump in their relationship.

"Is something wrong?" he asked quietly.

"I'm just tired," Seth snapped, pulling the linens up closer around his chin, his back to the prince.

"Then at least let me cuddle with you," Atem murmured, trying to accommodate for Seth's moodiness, but as he put his arm around Seth's waist, he felt the young priest stiffen. He tried to settle himself down to sleep, but he could sense that something was very off about him. "Is something wrong?" he asked quietly after a few minutes.

"I'm fine," Seth insisted, but Atem knew he was lying.

"Obviously, you're not," he insisted, sitting up and pulling the thin sheets off of the brunette as he rolled him over so he could look him in the eye. He saw far more than his eyes, though. The bruises on his shoulders and upper arms were livid and fresh. "What happened?" Atem gasped, his violet eyes growing wide.

"Nothing," Seth insisted, yanking the sheets over himself again as he tried to hide his injuries.

"No, _something_ happened, Seth." Atem was getting angry and upset, now, as he pulled the sheet too far off of Seth for him to pull it back. "Who did this to you?" he demanded, his eyes fiery as he imagined vengeance.

"Nothing happened," Seth growled, becoming angry himself. Atem reached down quickly to touch him, only to cause Seth to cry out in pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Atem apologized as he kissed Seth's cheeks in an effort to soothe him. Seth's eyes were tearing up, his breathing shallow as he became overcome with distress. "Tell me, who did this to you? They will not get away with it, I swear." Atem was still young enough that he felt no immediate qualms about demanding the death of someone who'd caused him personal offense.

"Nothing… nothing happened," Seth persisted as he fought tears, still refusing to acknowledge the incident out loud. Atem cupped Seth's face with his smaller hands and turned his head so that he had no choice but to face him.

"Seth, tell me the truth." His amethyst eyes pinned Seth's sapphires in place as the prince's companion finally began to cry.

"I-I don't know, I didn't see his face," he finally admitted, and Atem hugged him close as the young priest choked back a sob. Once he started to cry, he couldn't stop, and Atem was soon crying as well. He cradled his lover to his chest, learning for the first time what it was like to see someone in such wretched, emotional pain.

"Why didn't you just _tell_ me?" he asked in a pained whisper, Seth's answer breaking his heart.

"Because nothing happened."

* * *

 **Author Notes:** My poor baby. T_T This is what Yami was referring too in "Adopt." I felt I owed it to my readers to fill in the holes.

Since I've managed to make a premise for this shipping that makes me love it in this universe, so I think I'm going to try and do a chapter for every possible shipping Seto/Seth x Yugi/Yami/Atem shipping, including Flareshipping, Rewindshipping, and Timeshipping. Does anybody know if there is a shipping for Seto x Yugi x Seth, or something like that?


	5. Rewind

_"I love you too, Seto, now go back to sleep. I promise you won't have anymore nightmares."_

Yami may have promised Seto that he wouldn't have anymore nightmares, but his promise didn't preclude Yami himself from reliving that fateful night from thousands of years ago.

He awoke in a dream to find Seth in his arms, weeping. He was a teenager again, and he knew exactly what night this was. He remembered it all too well.

"Seth, it'll be alright," he murmured, hugging his lover tightly to his chest. He pressed his lips to Seth's face, kissing every inch of it until he could bring the teen to cease crying. Not that there was anything wrong with crying, but Yami wanted Seth's distress to ease, and an end to tears was usually a good indication of a lighter heart.

"Thank you," Seth murmured, his dark kohl eyeliner badly smudged from his tears as he blinked his eyes clear of the last of them. Yami lifted the edge of the sheet to Seto's eyes, gently cleaning his face of the makeup.

"Anything for you," he swore and leaned in to kiss the young priest again, his fingers dancing along his thin sides.

"How long will this last?" Seth asked suddenly, looking almost panicked. "This won't continue forever, right? I mean, you'll get bored of me eventually. I don't… I don't want you to make promises you'll regret." He spoke sincerely, and that was probably the most disturbing thing about it.

It was Yami's turn to tear up now, his heart swelling with sympathy for his cousin. He'd forgotten how insecure Seth had been when he was young.

"Never say such a thing ever again," Yami whispered fiercely, despite his sudden overflow of emotion. "I _love_ you Seth. Any promise I make for your protection could never be regretted." Seth just stared up at him with a stunned expression, and Yami realized that he needed more in order for him to accept this, since Seth was so unused to being loved. He took Seth's hand and placed it on his own heart while he placed his own hand on Seth's heart. "I swear to you that until the day I die, and even beyond it, I will _always_ do whatever I can to protect you. You are more dear to me than my own life, and that will never change."

Seth was overwhelmed with love and gratitude, words pressing to rush out of his mouth, but he didn't know how to say them.

"I love you too," he choked out at last, feeling wretched for his inability to vocalize what he felt, but Yami understood all the things he didn't say.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are, Seth?" he murmured languidly as he dusted faint kisses along Seth's collarbone.

"N-No," he stammered, face and neck flushing prettily as he considered the compliment. Beautiful. No, he'd certainly never been called _that_ before. He turned the word over in his mind as Yami slid his hands along Seth's sides, easing Seth onto his back as the prince gazed tenderly at his lover.

"You _are_ beautiful, Seth," he continued, deciding that here and now, on what could otherwise be the most wretched night of Seth's whole life, he was going to make the solitary priest feel absolutely adored. Sadly, he remembered Seto being the same way when he and Yugi first started out: Seto, too, had been so unaccustomed to being loved that it took him a while to adjust. Nobody should be so isolated as to find it hard to believe that they're loved.

"Am I?" the brunette asked hesitantly, warmth flaring in his chest as he started to let himself believe it to be true.

"You are," Yami assured, his lips traveling across Seth's torso, leaving hot trails of fire as his thumbs circled over Seth's tender flesh. The gasps of pleasure that greeted his ears were like music. Then an idea popped into his mind, one that made him smile. He looked up at his lover and murmured, "Would you be opposed to visiting the bath chambers with me?"

"Right now?" Seth breathed, intrigued at the idea.

"Yes. Come, let's get dressed."

They dressed hurriedly in simple tunics and snuck into the bath chambers without being spotted by anyone, which sent a strange thrill of exhilaration through their young bodies.

Soon enough, they were undressed once more and embracing in the cool water as Yami resumed his slow seduction of the scribe. He left no inch of him untouched except the most sensitive parts of him, and Seth would have never thought it possible to feel so aroused from that. Yet, he was most certainly aroused as he squirmed in Yami's hold, craving the stimulation that he was being denied. Finally, Yami gave in and moved them to the edge of the pool and lifted Seth—who was surprisingly light—out to sit on the tiled edge. He hadn't realized how scrawny Seth was until now, but maybe the pale moonlight only made the shadows of his ribs look harsher than they were.

With Seth's hands planted firmly on Yami's shoulders, the prince began the true torture of teasing Seth for as long as he possibly could with his lips and tongue. Whenever Seth released his shoulders to pull his head close, Yami would cease his attentions until Seth was gripping his shoulders again, his fingernails digging into his skin as his sense of reality was obscured with the haze of unfulfilled need. Not until he actually _begged_ for release did Yami finally give him satisfaction.

As Seth came down from the high, he lowered himself onto the cool tiled floor, staring up at the stars as pleasure thrummed through his body like a drug. Yami hauled himself out of the water and lay beside Seth, turning the brunette's head so that he could see his face.

"I love seeing you this happy," the royal murmured and rubbed his nose against his lover's, making the other giggle. Seth actually _giggled,_ and once he started, he didn't seem able to stop.

"Holy Ra, I've broken you!" Yami exclaimed with a laugh of his own. "I've broken you, and nobody will believe that you're the same, serious student of Aknadin." Yami helped bring Seth to his feet, even as the other struggled to bring his giddy laughter under control. He finally breathed a heavy sigh of contentment as he leaned against Yami for support, his laughter ending and his knees weak.

"Thank you, for everything," he murmured, feeling happier than he had in a long time, despite the earlier events of the evening. Even his physical pain had decreased significantly by now, and he couldn't think of any cause for it but his lover's ministrations. "Thank you."

* * *

Yami couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a vivid dream. It was almost like he'd actually been reliving the past. He looked down at Seto's sleeping face still pressed into the pillow and smiled to himself as he realized that he'd kept his promise.


	6. Puzzle Blind Stoic

As Yami's dream of Seth faded, he found himself inside his soul room. Yugi was several feet ahead of him, sitting at the bottom of a set of stairs with an expression of despair.

"Yugi, what's wrong?" Yami asked as he approached his hikari and sat beside him on the steps. He'd already comforted two weeping lovers tonight; he wasn't sure he could handle a third. As he put a comforting arm around Yugi's shoulders, the teen leaned against Yami and smiled up at him sadly.

"You always know the right thing to say," he observed in a murmur, his large eyes wide with innocent admiration, but doubt flickered in the purple pools of his irises. "You always know just what to do when someone's hurting or in trouble. Sometimes I can't help but wonder… if they don't like you more…"

"Banish the thought!" Yami exclaimed in shock. "Seto loved you before he even _knew_ me. He still doesn't know me, not really."

"But Seth—" Yugi protested, only to be cut off.

"You and Seth haven't met, so that's an invalid example," Yami corrected. "Besides that, _everybody_ loves you, Yugi." He leaned over and kissed his partner tenderly, gently, reassuring him with more than just his words. " _I_ love you, Yugi. Don't forget that again, okay?"

Yugi blushed as he nodded, and Yami smiled, lifting Yugi in his arms as he stood up.

"Atem loves you too. I'll bet you didn't know that, huh?" he said with a clever twinkle in his eye, causing Yugi to tilt his head in confusion as he was carried up the stairs.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, perplexed. Yami didn't answer, but passed through the doorway at the top of the stairs, entering a darkened room that smelled of sand and incense.

Yugi blinked and found himself lying on the grandiose bed in the center of the chambers. He knew this room. This was the room he'd seen in Yami's dream. Their souls were so closely knit that neither could dream or daydream without the other having access to those visions. A figure entered the room then, one he also recognized.

It was Atem, not Yami. He didn't know how he knew to draw the distinction between the two of them, aside from appearance, but he knew that he did. Atem smiled at Yugi as he joined him in the luxurious bed and pulled him close, Yugi still feeling incredibly confused.

"Just as Seto is Seth's reincarnation, so you are mine," the young prince whispered. "You are dear to me, more dear to me than even Seth." He kissed Yugi, who'd started to relax as he understood what was happening and that he had nothing to worry about. "I would like to thank you for sharing your soul with mine. I know that it can't be easy. I've put you in so much danger, and you've had to save the world so many times…"

"Love is worth working for," Yugi answered with a blush between kisses.

* * *

Seto embraced the scribe passionately. This was just a dream after all, right? He'd seen so much of himself in the youth that his heart went out to him, and he couldn't help himself.

He still didn't believe in the ancient spirits or the power of the Millennium Items that the geek squad raved about, but he did believe in narcissism and the subconscious mind playing tricks on you. This was just a projection of his own pain into a younger, auburn, tanned version of himself. He was giving himself the love he hadn't had—yet desperately craved—when he was that age.

Of course, the younger self yielded to the elder, letting the broad-shouldered, long-legged man make love to him the way he'd wanted to be loved for so long.

Seth smiled up at Seto lazily and kissed his cheek, nuzzling against him tenderly.

"Do you really think I'm just a narcissistic projection?" he asked teasingly, making Seto look at him curiously.

"What makes you ask?"

"Because you don't believe in me, yet here I am, as real as you are, and you don't even believe yourself to be a narcissist."

The Egyptian youth's words puzzled Seto. "This is just a _dream_. What happens here bears no consequence in the real world."

"Does that mean I'm not real?"

"Yes. Ow!" Seto cried out as Seth bit him hard on the shoulder, leaving teeth marks and breaking the skin.

"That _can't_ hurt," Seth said with a smug smirk. "I'm not real, right?"

The dream faded then, leaving Seto incredibly confused. He awoke with a bite mark on his shoulder, and he'd be lying if he said that it didn't scare him a bit.

Yugi stirred beside him in bed, and Seto was tempted to ask him about those ancient Egyptian spirits. But as Yugi blinked open those sweet violet eyes of his and smiled at the brunette, Seto decided that ancient Egypt could wait.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** Sorry that this one is so short. I wanted to just throw a few of the pseudo-narcissistic shippings among these characters together as an acknowledgment to them, even though they're not the main purpose of this story. _If you enjoyed it, let me know in a review!_


	7. Rivals Again

**Author Notes:** At this point in time, Yugi and Seto have both matured, so in this chapter, you can picture them in the way they appear in the official art for the Dark Side of Dimensions movie. ;) Seto's sexy abs actually _show_ in that artwork... *drools*

* * *

Seto woke up hard the next morning. He shifted his hips and felt the brush of skin across his member. He moved again, craving the stimulation, and heard Yugi give a sleepy grunt. He opened his bleary eyes and rolled onto his partner, propping himself up on his forearms as he began to grind against his partner.

Yugi moaned as his hands tangled into Seto's messy hair, a flush creeping up his neck and cheeks. Seto slowed and paused as he reached blindly for the bottle of lube on the nightstand. He then poured some into his hand before wriggling two fingers into Yugi's entrance, eliciting a delicious reaction.

"Ah-Seto!" Yugi cried, his back arching high as he gripped the sheets in both hands. Seto waited for Yugi to relax before kissing the hollow of his hip, fluttering his fingers inside him, and watching him gasp. He didn't spend long preparing him since he was still loose from last night, and he was impatient besides.

He positioned himself between his lover's legs and poured a fresh layer over himself as a pair of arms wrapped around his back to hold him tightly. When he thrust in deep, Yugi cried out again.

"Oh gods, Seto!" he shouted, his fingernails digging into Seto's back, making him grunt with a faint pain that pierced the haze of pleasure he moved through. He paused a moment to swallow it down and regain focus, then thrust again, Yugi's fingernails digging in harder and dragging an inch or two as Seto's breath caught in his throat.

"Yugi, your hands…" he choked out, not sure if his sensitive scars could withstand the kind of scratching that was sure to come.

"Sorry," he panted, flustered, moving his hands from Seto's back to his shoulders, gripping them hard as he kissed Seto's heart apologetically. Seto continued making love to him in the early morning, the two of them singing the oldest song in history, one primal humans had been singing since the beginning of time.

When Seto collapsed to the side, an arm and a leg still draped over his boyfriend, he kissed Yugi's cheek and laid absolute claim to him with a single whispered word: "Mine." Yugi wrapped his arms around Seto's waist, feeling safe and comfortable under his warm bulk.

Eventually, Seto lifted himself off of Yugi and slid out of bed. Yugi rolled over and watched Seto, wincing as he saw the little red stripes he'd left behind.

"Ach, I'm sorry, dear," he murmured, causing Seto to look at him over his shoulder.

"Don't be, it's fine." He stretched his arms as Yugi sat up as well, still looking drowzy. "You don't have to get up yet, you know," Seto said, leaning over to kiss Yugi's forehead as he passed him on his way to the bathroom. "You can sleep longer if you need to, but I have to shower and get to work."

"Can I shower with you?" Yugi asked, and Seto held out a hand to him, helping him out of bed and tugging him along. Their shower was peaceful and refreshing, and Seto wished he could have let it last longer, even if they did have a disagreement in the process.

"Are you sure you can't move in with me?" Seto asked in a whisper, his hands sliding slowly over his beloved's soapy body. The nights when Yugi couldn't make it to the mansion killed him, and since they'd been together for almost two years now, Seto thought it high time they commit to something more permanent—and he'd never before reached a point in a relationship where he actually _wanted_ to commit, which meant that he'd made a lot of progress in his ability to develop interpersonal relationships. It was a progress that he was proud of, especially because he never would have wanted this before, even as recently as Battle City.

Their relationship had started with Yugi holding genuine affection for Kaiba, and Kaiba feeling attracted to Yugi, but hating that he couldn't get over his attraction. He'd initially wanted to use him until he could absolve all attraction to him and finally defeat him in a duel, then leave him behind to fade into the unaccessed obscurity of his past.

Yugi had changed him for the better and against his will, without him even realizing it at first. Now, looking back, he was amazed that Yugi had felt anything for him at all or stuck around as long as he had. Now, he wanted to show his appreciation, to lavish as much affection on him as possible, and that included sharing a palace with him.

"I can't leave Grandpa alone," Yugi answered with a sigh. "His cancer's in remission, but he's never going to be back to 100% of what he was before they found the tumor. He needs _me_ , and I can't leave him to live with a stranger."

"And I guess moving him here is still out of the question?" Seto sighed, disappointed.

"It is, and you _know_ why it is," Yugi rebuked him. "The Kame Game Shop means everything to him. I could never ask him to leave it. He's still capable of managing the accounts, reordering stock, interacting with customers. So long as he's capable and competent and in his right mind, I can't ask him to leave." This was the stalemate they'd reached four months ago, and development in their discussions had ceased at this point.

Seto held Yugi close as he bit back his response: _But I miss you._ It made him feel vulnerable to need another person like this, and he'd learned to accept this as a necessary part of relationships, but he still feared the potential for pain it implied. It had made him feel much better when he found out that it was normal to fear pain like that.

"I love you, Seto," Yugi assured as he put his arms around Seto's neck and nuzzled against him.

"I love you too, Yugi."

"We'll figure this out in due time, alright? Just be patient."

"You know I was never good at being patient."


	8. Cancer

Almost a week had gone by since Solomon Moto's lung cancer had come back, and Seto hadn't seen Yugi once since then. Yugi was refusing to leave the hospital anymore than was strictly necessary, sleeping there every night and only leaving every other day to shower. Seto kept in touch through texts, calls, emails, doing his best to show that he cared even though his work confined him to his office. Some incompetent underling, a supervisor of a smaller sub-section of the company, had let a problem stew for over four months, only coming clean to his boss now that it had exploded beyond his control.

While Seto struggled to pick up the pieces of the disaster, in addition to juggling his other work duties and keeping tabs on his hyperactive little brother, he found himself slipping back into his old habits, like his insomnia and his workaholism. He'd tried sleeping, honestly he had, but after two nights without Yugi, he quickly discovered that it was impossible for him to sleep. He was restless, physically needy, and he'd learned to manage that in the past by deteriorating his body's state with all-night sessions spent at a computer screen while he worked in his office. Old habits died hard, so this was what he found himself doing again. He hadn't mentioned it to Yugi, not wanting him to have yet something else to worry about, but this behavior was taking a heavy toll on him.

On his seventh night without Yugi, he'd been awake for three consecutive days and the weather was as foul as his mood. Mokuba had accused him of acting like a wounded tiger when he'd come to say goodnight, to which he'd verbally responded that he was more dragon than tiger. An hour later, though, he was sighing to himself, exhausted and aching like never before. Finally, he decided to just screw it all. He was going to see his boyfriend. Work would just have to wait. He knew that Yugi had gone home that night at his grandfather's request so that he could get a proper night's sleep, so now all he had to do was get there.

* * *

Yugi was surprised when he heard a knock on the door at quarter till midnight. Who could possibly be coming by at such an hour? Well, it was their lucky day that Yugi happened to be awake to answer the door. He pulled a robe on over his pajamas and went to answer the door.

"Seto?" He was shocked. There the brunette stood, soaked to the bone from the driving rain, his clothes clinging to his broad-shouldered, long-limbed body. "Did you walk all the way here?"

"Yeah," he answered, looking somewhat breathless. "I'm sorry, I should have called—" He fell silent as Yugi's lips crashed into his, surprising him, but not surprising him so much that he didn't return Yugi's kiss. He groaned, grabbing hold of Yugi's shirt and pulling him closer. He'd missed this so much.

After a few moments, he realized that they were both being rained on now, and broke the kiss.

"Let's go inside," he murmured, stepping in and pulling Yugi with him. "If you get wet, you'll get sick."

He said it so matter-of-factly and with such disregard for his own soaked state that the sweetness of it brought tears to Yugi's eyes. Seto closed the front door and locked it, then pulled Yugi into a loose hug, not wanting to make him as wet as Seto himself.

"Please don't cry," Seto pleaded, starting to tear up a little himself. "Everything's going to be alright, I promise." Seto had already committed himself to getting Yugi's grandpa the best treatment possible, no matter the cost. Maybe things were too far along for any treatment to make a difference, but Seto couldn't forgive himself if he didn't at least try. He nuzzled his wet head against Yugi's, trying his best to comfort him. Yugi let out a light laugh through his tears as droplets of water from Seto's hair splashed onto his face, and he kissed Seto's cheek tenderly.

"Come on, let's get you out of those wet clothes," he murmured, pulling away and guiding Seto by the hand through his house. Seto's hair and clothes were still dripping water, but Yugi couldn't care less. He fetched a set of pajamas from his room, then went to the bathroom with Seto to help him change. Not that he really needed the help. But in the harsh incandescent light, Yugi finally saw the dark circles under Seto's eyes.

"When was the last time you slept?" he asked, his eyes glazed with pity as he caressed Seto's cheek. His boyfriend just shook his head.

"Doesn't matter," he muttered. "You don't look much more rested than I am."

"Eh, well," Yugi stammered, blushing. "I guess I've been just as bad as you about sleep lately."

"Impossible," Seto assured with a half smile. "Nobody's as bad as me when it comes to sleep."

Once Seto's hair was half dry and he was dressed in Yugi's clothes, they went to bed, both too exhausted to do anything other than sleep. They squeezed in together under the sheets on Yugi's bed, the rain lulling them both into deep slumber.

* * *

When Yugi awoke, he was alone in the bed, and at first, he was confused. He stood and went downstairs to the kitchen, his slippers padding softly against the stairs as he descended. There was Seto, leaning against the counter as he sipped his coffee.

"Good morning," he greeted, and Yugi, relaxing a little, came up to him and leaned into his side. Seto's arm went around him to hold him close. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, did you?"

"Yes, I did, for the first time all week."

"I need to get back to the hospital after I shower," Yugi said.

" _And_ after you eat breakfast," Seto added.

"I don't have the time—"

"Then let me bring you something decent to eat."

"Do you have the time? Don't you have issues to take care of at work?"

"Yes, but they can wait, given how much time at night I've spent working."

"You're so wonderful," Yugi sighed, giving him a kiss. Seto wasn't willing to let it end, though. He set down his coffee and pulled Yugi in front of him, holding him close. Very close. "Seto, we don't have time…"

He reluctantly released Yugi, who seemed equally reluctant yet grateful.

"Thanks, babe. I'll make it up to you tonight, alright?"


	9. Shared

**Author Notes:** Sorry, I know this one's kinda short, but the next chapter I post will have a romantic Kaiba to make up for it.

* * *

"Yugi, wake up."

That voice, so familiar, so beloved, so soft… He knew that voice and he wanted to see it's owner, but he couldn't open his eyes fully. His eyelids were just too heavy…

"Hm?" he grunted vaguely.

"Yugi, it's time for you to wake up. You need to go home."

Finally, he forced his eyes open. It took a minute for them to regain focus, but once they did, he could see Seto smiling gently down at him.

"It's time to get you home, Yugi," he repeated softly as he took Yugi by the hands and helped him to stand from the chair at his grandfather's bedside.

"What time is it?" he asked blearily, glancing down at his watch. "Oh no! I was supposed to meet you over an hour ago! I'm so sorry! How long have I been asleep?"

"I don't know, but if you're going to be asleep, you should do it in your bed at home. Come on, you're starting to get worse than me." He led his sleepy rival out of the room and out of the hospital to his car. He helped him in before going around to the driver's side.

"I think I'm hungry," Yugi muttered as he dropped his head onto Seto's shoulder. Seto reached over with his right hand and held Yugi's in his own as he pulled out of his spot and into the flow of traffic.

"Well, I had food for you, but I think it's cold now."

"Why did you wait so long before you came to pick me up?"

"If you were talking with the doctor or with your grandfather, I didn't want to interrupt."

"That's so sweet of you," Yugi murmured, closing his eyes as Seto drove them to his house. Seto'd been staying with him for almost a week now, their ache for each other too painful to keep them apart any longer.

"It was the most reasonable thing to do at the time," Seto defended stiffly. He didn't mind _being_ a little sweet and emotional now and then, so long as he wasn't _called_ sweet and emotional; it was something that Yugi only partially understood, and refused to accept.

"No, it wasn't. It was absolutely dripping with sentimentality and impracticality." Yugi smirked as he gave Seto's hand a squeeze, knowing that Seto often felt uncomfortable and awkward when he was accused of being sappy and emotional. "I love you."

"I love you too." Seto relaxed as they got closer to the home that, for now, they shared. Yugi was still incredibly groggy when they arrived, and Seto helped him out of the car, grabbing the Burger World bag as he did so. Yugi was stumbling like a tippler as Kaiba led him into the house and to his room.

They'd moved Yugi's mattress to the floor so that they could sleep together and still accommodate for Seto's long limbs so that he could sleep in relative comfort.

"Eh, I can eat in the morning," Yugi grumbled as he started to sloppily shove off his jacket. Watching him made Seto chuckle before he started to help him undress.

"You remind me of the first time I went two full days without sleep," he commented, clearly amused. "Don't worry, you'll be better able to handle it next time."

"I don't want a next time," Yugi grumbled as Seto bared Yugi's chest, then did the same for himself.

"Then tomorrow night, come home," Seto replied simply, tugging off Yugi's pants. Yugi drowzily murmured something incoherent, making Seto chuckle again. "You're such a sleepy panda."

"Not a panda," Yugi muttered as Seto finished undressing himself, then stood to turn out the lights before returning to Yugi's side, pulling the blankets up over both of them. He stretched before wrapping himself around Yugi's smaller body.

"How was your day?" Yugi finally thought to ask, his eyes too tired to open them.

"Fine. How's your grandpa?"

"Better, but nothing's definitive yet." More quietly, he added, "He might still not make it." It was the first time he ever admitted it out loud.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he murmured, although he couldn't really empathize. He'd never had a grandfather of any kind, not that he could remember, anyway. He leaned over and kissed Yugi's forehead. "You already know I'll do everything I can to help," he whispered against Yugi's skin.

"Thank you, for everything," Yugi mumbled, half asleep already.

"You're welcome. Anything for you."

"I promise I'll be home at a decent time tomorrow night."

"Good. I miss you."


	10. Conflict

The next morning, Seto wasn't content to wait for the return of the night. While Yugi was in the shower, Seto decided to join him.

"Hey! Seto, I'm in a hurry," Yugi protested with a blush as Seto stepped into the shower with him. He threw the loofah in his hand at his partner, but Seto was undeterred by the soapy sphere bouncing off his chest and falling to the shower floor.

"And I've been neglected." Seto pushed Yugi against the tiled wall of the shower and kissed him hard as he began to stroke his lover into an erection. Yugi moaned and squirmed beneath him, as if still trying to put up a resistance.

"I-I have to go," he whined, trying not to pant audibly. Seto wanted to tell him that they both had the time, that Yugi's grandpa would still be there when they were done, but for once he knew it would make him look like a colossal dick if he said something like that, so he opted for something that would hopefully prove more persuasive.

"You don't need to go." When Kaiba nipped at Yugi's neck, he felt Yugi's hips jerk into his hand. "You need this as much as I do."

"No, I really should leave," Yugi reiterated weakly, his hands on Seto's shoulders as if to push him away, but he was exerting no _real_ force against the brunette. Seto's hands stilled on his partner.

"Please." Those pure blue eyes had never pleaded before like they were in those moments. It was almost impossible to say no to him, especially because he so rarely pleaded for anything. It was almost impossible, but only _almost_.

"I'm sorry, Seto. I can't." Yugi looked truly apologetic as he kissed Seto's cheek and fled the shower, leaving the brunette with a hard on and a quickly growing sense of frustration.

* * *

Seto dropped Yugi off at the hospital that morning, speaking little during the drive, but he didn't pick Yugi up at the hospital that night. He sent Roland with the limo, giving him directions to Mr. Moto's hospital room and instructions for how to summon Yugi away from his ailing grandfather and to his home so that he could rest properly.

"No thanks, Roland. I'll stay here tonight."

"Nonsense, Yugi! You don't need to stay on my account! I'm feeling great! Go home and get a good night's sleep." He smiled weakly at his faithful grandson. "Go on, shoo! I'll still be here in the morning, you know."

Yugi didn't seem the least bit assured by Solomon's words. "Are you absolutely _sure_ you want me to go?"

"Yes, go! It's for your own good!"

"Okay then," Yugi said hesitantly, giving his grandfather's hand a squeeze before standing and following Roland out of the hospital to the waiting limo. He was surprised that Kaiba wasn't in the backseat waiting for him. He asked about his lover's absence and received an unsatisfactory answer.

"He's occupied with an unanticipated emergency, but he plans on coming home later tonight."

Fair enough.

But when Yugi was still tossing and turning alone in his bed at half past one, he began to worry that Seto wasn't going to sleep that night. At least not here.

The next morning, Roland was at the Kame Game Shop to take Yugi to the hospital—or wherever else he needed to go. Yugi had texted Seto last night, but still had no answer. He tried calling him on the drive to the hospital, but it went straight to voicemail. He left a concerned, half-hearted message, then fiddled nervously with his phone for the rest of the drive. He couldn't help but feel like he was being shut out.

Around lunch-time, Kaiba called Yugi back, as he'd asked him to do in his message.

"Hi Seto," Yugi answered with audible relief. "I was worried when you didn't come home last night."

"I'm fine." Kaiba's cold deadpan voice gave Yugi a chill, stealing away his sense of relief.

"That's good," he answered, feeling uncertain of himself.

"Was there something specific you needed to ask me? I'm very busy, you know."

"I-I was just wondering if you would be home tonight."

"Probably not." Again, his voice was cold and monotone, as if he didn't care either way. "I have to get to a meeting." He hung up, leaving Yugi slack-jawed and wet-eyed.

Yugi became increasingly agitated throughout the day, and when Roland came back to the hospital last night to take him home, things only got worse.

"I must regrettably inform you that Mr. Kaiba has left the country on urgent business."

"Urgent?!" Yugi exclaimed, stopping suddenly in the middle of the hallway. He looked both shocked and angry as he turned to look at Roland. "How urgent can it possibly be? It's not like he works for the government or he's fighting a war."

"I'm not authorized to disclose any details," Roland answered uncomfortably, slipping a finger inside his shirt collar and loosening it a little. His gestured betrayed how anxious this situation made him.

"Why wouldn't he just tell me this himself? Why is he avoiding me?" Yugi's anger dissipated into confused sadness, and Roland wished that he had an answer for him.

* * *

As Kaiba walked across the tarmac from his private 737 jet towards his waiting limo, he pulled out his phone and turned it back on, finally letting himself look at all the messages waiting for him. Twenty-six missed calls and nine voice-mails from Yugi, three texts from Mokuba, and five texts from Roland.

He checked the messages from Roland first, four of which were updates on the company, and one of which was an assurance that a member of the mansion staff had cleaned the Moto house before Yugi had brought his grandfather home.

The texts from Mokuba were far more personal and pleasant, expressing his wish for his brother to have a safe flight, asking if he could have a friend sleepover this weekend, and telling him that his SAT scores had (finally) been posted online. Apparently, Mokuba wanted to tell them to Seto in person. Fair enough. Kaiba was sure, though, that they were high and impressive.

Once he was seated inside the backseat of his limo, he reluctantly checked the time stamps of Yugi's many missed calls. Then, with increasing reluctance, he put his phone to his ear and started playing his voice-mails. There was a steady progression from anxious to agitated to angry to upset to confused to furious to cold. It was hard to listen to them all at once, and part of Kaiba wanted to call him back, but he was hardly likely to be awake after three in the morning.

He'd nodded off for a bit during the drive home, but he was roused by the motion of the limo coming to a stop in front of the mansion. He collected his small suitcase from the trunk and walked slowly up the vast front steps of the building. Between the long flight, the jet lag, and the current time, he was exhausted and more than ready to fall into bed without even changing out of his suit. At the base of the central stairway in the foyer, however, a surprise awaited him, startling him enough to bring him to a higher level of alertness.

On one of the bottom steps sat Yugi, slumped against the railing as he slept in a position that would surely make his neck stiff in the morning. Had he been waiting for Kaiba to come home? Probably. Although Seto hadn't communicated with him once while he was gone, he most likely learned from Roland when Kaiba would be returning. The brunette approached the stairs and looked down at Yugi, contemplating his options. It wasn't a very difficult decision to make, though. He couldn't just leave him there.

He abandoned his suitcase at the foot of the steps and carefully scooped Yugi up in his arms. He ascended the steps as smoothly as he could, not wanting to wake him. For one thing, he needed the sleep. For another, he wasn't ready to explain to Yugi why he'd disappeared on a business trip and hadn't spoken to him once since he left. Despite his best efforts, Yugi began to stir as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Seto?" he whispered, his eyelids heavy and his voice thick with sleep.

"Go back to sleep, Yugi," the executive murmured, glancing down into his orchid eyes for a fraction of a second before returning his attention to where he was going. His lover, though, had his mind set on disobeying.

"Put me down, I can walk on my own," he muttered with a rare tone of grumpiness. Seto complied, setting the King of Games on his own feet, then immediately starting to move way. "Wait, where are you going?" Yugi protested, following after him.

"I'm going to sleep. Feel free to use any of the guest rooms." He waved one arm in a vague gesture without even turning to look at him, but was forced to when Yugi jumped in front of him and held out his arms to keep Kaiba from going around him.

"You've been ignoring me for a week, and we finally see each other again, and you're just going to walk away?" He had that stubborn look in his eyes, like the look he had when he dueled.

Dueling.

Remembering the many times that Yugi had beaten him in a duel made Kaiba's mood even more sour.

"It's almost four in the morning. I think it's reasonable for me to wish to sleep." He crossed his arms as a familiar scowl settled over his features.

"That's not the issue here." Yugi crossed his arms too. "Why weren't you answering my calls?"

"I was working."

"Not _all_ the time, though! There must have been a time when you could have called me back."

"I'm a busy man, and sometimes you can't be my top priority. I thought you understood that." Kaiba brushed past Yugi, walking quickly in the direction of his room. The sooner he got to his room, the sooner he could end this conversation, and the sooner he could sleep. Yugi grabbed his arm, though, and turned him around, further frustrating the brunette.

"That doesn't explain why you were giving me the cold shoulder before you even left, though. And now you don't even want to share a bed with me!" Yugi released Kaiba's arm when he saw the fierce look in the other's eyes, a slight fear shivering down his spine and reminding him that Kaiba could be quite volatile when he got truly angry. Seto saw the fear in his face, and it just made him angrier.

"I. Am. _Tired_." The words were growled around clenched teeth. "We can talk about it tomorrow when we can both be calm and rational about it."

"Can't you ever _stop_ being rational?" Yugi asked in irritation. He didn't seem at all sleepy now.

"Yes, and you see it all the time," Seto snapped, his fists clenching at his sides as he fought for control of his temper. "The only reason we're together is because I _stopped_ being rational about _you_! Loving you is the most irrational thing I've ever done! Or did you completely overlook that tiny little detail?" Kaiba pushed past him again, and this time Yugi didn't stop him. He followed him, though, taking a few moments to come up with a response.

"Seto, did I do something wrong?" The soft, quiet question couldn't have been more pitiful if he'd been trying. "Did I... upset you somehow?"

"Do you really think I'm that sensitive?" He really did sound exhausted now that his anger had left him. He still sounded cranky, though, and when Yugi followed him into his room, he didn't push him away or tell him off.

"I think you're more sensitive than you let on," Yugi murmured, taking Seto's hand and leading him to his walk-in closet. The taller of the two was tired enough to tolerate being led like a child. "More sensitive than you'd like me to believe."

Kaiba didn't answer as Yugi started to undress him, taking off his suit jacket, unbuttoning his shirt, and everything else.

"You're not normally this tired after a business trip." Yugi's eyes studied Seto's bloodshot ones as he finished buttoning up Seto's pajama shirt.

"Hmph."

"Come on, then. Let's get you to bed."

Seto swayed a bit as Yugi started tugging him along, but he managed to stay on his feet up until the point that Yugi gently pushed him down onto the mattress. He couldn't even keep his eyes open.

"Can I sleep with you, Seto?"

"Hmmm..." He was half asleep already, and Yugi took that as a yes. He tucked Seto in under his covers, flicked off the lights, then went to Seto's closet and changed into a spare set of pajamas that he kept here for nights like this. He slipped in under the sheets next to Seto and closed his eyes, preparing to go back to sleep. After a few moments, he felt Seto put an arm around him and pull their bodies closer together before falling into a truly deep sleep.


	11. Enemies

Seto slept until it was almost noon, which had never, _ever_ happened before. As far as Yugi knew, Seto had never once slept in past eight o'clock in his entire adult life, or even in his early teens. His exhaustion the previous night made sense, if he slept in far later than he normally allowed himself to do. Yugi was awake before him, and by the time Seto began to stir, Yugi had nibbled on some toast and drunk half a cup of coffee, with a fresh cup of a strong black brew on the nightstand waiting for Kaiba to wake up.

When Seto opened his eyes, he didn't move at first. He didn't want to know the time. He didn't want to go to the office. He didn't want to talk to Yugi. He didn't want to talk to _anyone_. He just wanted to go back to sleep and sleep forever. Even though Yugi was curled up on a chair in the far corner of the room, he still saw the flutter of eyelashes that alerted him to his lover's awakening.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, his tone gentle even though he had to raise his voice to ensure that Seto heard him clearly.

Kaiba made no verbal answer, but pulled a spare pillow over his head and held it in place with a misanthropic groan. Yugi set his mug on the side table and slunk from his chair across the room to the bed. He delicately perched on the edge of the mattress, biting his lip as he carefully chose his next words.

"Thank you for sending Roland to look after me while you were away."

No response.

"And for having the house cleaned before he came home. Roland wouldn't say that it was your doing, but I noticed. It was very thoughtful of you."

Kaiba grunted ambiguously, but didn't move the pillow.

"It seems like the treatment's working, and the odds are in his favor."

Silence. Yugi inhaled deeply, trying to stay patient.

"Please talk to me, Seto. I missed you."

Kaiba lifted the pillow enough to clearly say, "What do you want me to say?"

Yugi snatched the pillow off Kaiba's head and snapped, "You can start by telling me why you ignored me for a week, or why you disappeared without saying anything. You could even start by telling me _where_ you went and _what_ you were doing."

Seto sat up finally, eyes narrowed in an icy glare. Was Yugi really questioning his honesty? "I was on a _business trip_ , and I was _working_. It's that simple."

Yugi threw the pillow at Kaiba, shouting, "My _god_ Seto, why do you have to be such a brat?!" He already knew as much. Why was he determined to be difficult?

Seto could have ducked, dodged, or blocked the pillow with ease, but he didn't, just let it hit him full in the face. It fell to the bed-covers with a dull thud.

"You think _I'm_ the brat?"

Yugi gasped, drawing back in shock. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"If you're smart enough to be King Of Games," Seto snarled, shoving the covers away as he got out of bed. "You should be able to figure it out."

"Come _on_ , Seto, I thought we were past all that." Yugi rolled his eyes in exasperation as the brunette walked away from him, glaring at his back as he stood and started to follow him. "Is _that_ really what's bothering you?"

Kaiba turned on Yugi and yelled, "Of course not!" He felt insulted that Yugi thought he was so petty.

"Then what? Why won't you _tell_ me what's wrong?"

"Just leave me _alone_ , Yugi."

"Don't you trust me?" The spiky-haired teen stepped closer to Kaiba, challenging him to give in.

"That's not the issue here," Kaiba ground out through gritted teeth. He could feel his blood starting to boil.

"Then why don't you enlighten me?" Yugi snapped back, becoming too cocky for his own good. "If you're going to be mad at me, then you should at least tell me _why_. Don't I have a _right_ to know?"

"The issue _is_ , Yugi, that you're _exhausting_ ," Kaiba shouted, losing his patience completely. He turned quickly and ducked into his bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it. Yugi stood on the other side, stunned into silence.

"What do you mean?" he asked softly. Kaiba was still standing by the door, and because he was still too angry to stop himself, he answered.

"I mean that I can only support you emotionally for so long before I need to recharge," he snapped back, turning to face the door as he continued to shout. "Except I didn't even _get_ to do that on my trip because I had to go visit one of our suppliers who's been ignoring every email and phone call informing them that they're shipment is late and that we'll pull our contract if they can't deliver. And when we sent an agent to their facility, we never heard back from him, and _I_ had to go deal with it myself, only to find out that they had gone _bankrupt_ because of their own incompetence, and _then_ I needed to stay and oversee the liquidation of their resources so that we could at least get our money back! And we're so far behind schedule because of it that we're _still_ going to lose thousands of dollars!" He kicked the door to punctuate his rage then turned away, crossing his arms as he leaned back against it, finally taking a deep breath as he started to simmer down. "Just leave me alone for a few days," he muttered. "And I'll be fine." Kaiba glared at the floor as if it were personally responsible for everything that had ever angered or hurt him in his life.

Yugi didn't know what to say. He stood there, hands hanging at his sides, curling and uncurling his fingers as he processed that information. They'd never fought quite like _this_ before, and it didn't seem right to just walk away. Seto said that he just needed to be alone, but Yugi knew from experience that Kaiba shouldn't be left to his own devices when he was upset. Yugi stepped closer to the bathroom door and pressed one hand to its surface.

"How was I... exhausting?" he asked hesitantly. He wanted to know what he'd done wrong so that he could fix this. Letting Seto bottle everything up and keep it to himself was _not_ the ideal way to handle this situation, but as far as he could tell, Seto seemed to have his heart set on that pattern every time they had a problem.

Seto closed his eyes and sighed. His back slid down the door, his socked feet sliding forward on the floor until he was sitting, arms still crossed defiantly.

"You're needy," he answered finally. "When you're needy, you're selfish and you can't see beyond your own problems."

"You think that me worrying about my grandfather is _selfish_?"

Seto growled low in the back of his throat, rubbing his temple as he felt a headache beginning to grow behind his eyes. This was why he hadn't wanted to say anything about it. Yugi wouldn't understand how _his_ grief affected Seto. To be fair, Seto hardly understood it himself. He just knew that he was tired and needed some space. His failure to answer prompted Yugi to kneel in front of the door, having heard Seto's voice coming from below and deduced that he was sitting on the floor now.

"Please talk to me."

"You can say that as many times as you like, Yugi, but it still doesn't tell me what you want me to say."

"Say whatever you're thinking." He paused, pressed his forehead to the door, then added, "Whatever you're feeling."

Seto brought his knees up closer to his chest, picking at the fabric of his pajama pants absent-mindedly. He didn't want to say what he felt. It would only make things worse. How could it possibly help for him to tell Yugi that he felt neglected, that his needs weren't being satisfied? How could it possibly help for him to say that Yugi had hurt him when Yugi had physically pushed him away? That was the last morning they'd seen each other before he left for his business trip, and that scene in the shower had replayed in his mind repeatedly while he was gone.

Seto had joined Yugi, feeling impatient, eager, and, yes, _physically needy_ because those needs had been entirely ignored for two weeks. He'd been feeling disconnected from his lover, and all he wanted was to reconnect with him. Then Yugi had denied him, had _pushed him away_ , and fled him completely. Seto could understand that Solomon was important to Yugi, that while he was ill, he was Yugi's first priority; he didn't expect to be Yugi's top priority right now, but he expected Yugi to invest _something_ in their relationship. He expected to still be _important_ to him. Why did he only draw his attention after disappearing?

He felt like it was a wake-up call. Hadn't he despised being dependent on other people for any sense of satisfaction or fulfillment? Yet here he was, dissatisfied because Yugi had been in too much of a hurry to get back to the hospital to have sex with him. As of today, they hadn't been intimate in the past three and a half weeks, not even after Seto had temporarily moved in with him so they could still see each other between Yugi's long and frequent hospital visits. Seto was frustrated because his needs weren't being met, and because he found himself in the situation where he couldn't satisfy himself. On his business trip, he'd realized that if it weren't for Yugi, he could have had a one-night stand, just to get his rocks off, and he would have been entirely guilt-free.

And then his mind had jumped to blaming Yugi for other things, for everything. If it weren't for Yugi, he would still be the Duel Monsters Champion. If it weren't for Yugi, he wouldn't now hate Duel Monsters completely. If it weren't for Yugi, he wouldn't have gone through various stages of anger and depression after Battle City... and after the Ceremonial Duel.

He'd started thinking that he might have been better off if he'd never met Yugi, and it wasn't the first time he'd thought this.

How could it be helpful for him to tell Yugi _that_?

"Seto, are you okay?" Yugi was worried by Seto's prolonged silence, even if he was still irked at being called a needy, selfish brat.

"Go away."

"No."

"It's my house, now get out."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Open the door, Seto."

"No."

"Open it or I'll get a screwdriver and take it off its hinges."

"The hinges aren't _on_ your side of the door," Seto corrected pointedly.

"Let me in."

"I don't want to."

"Please?"

"Why won't you just go away?" Kaiba grumbled, tipping his head back as he tried to will away his headache. "I told you I needed to be _alone_."

"Because I don't think you _know_ what you need. I don't trust you to know what's good for you when you're upset." Yugi's voice had gone soft and low, almost regretful as he remembered past incidents when Kaiba had been troubled and temperamental, when he'd closed the door on everyone so that he could brood in total solitude. Brooding never did Kaiba any good. It always did him more harm than anything else.

"So you don't trust me?" Kaiba snarked back, repeating Yugi's earlier question.

"I don't trust you with yourself," Yugi answered softly, his eyelids dropping a little. All of this was so... discouraging. He had missed Seto while he was gone, and now that he was back, he _still_ missed him, because he felt so far away. He hated it when they fought. It had only happened a few times in the course of their relationship, but it was always on a volcanic scale.

First there were the tremors, the "cold shoulder" warning Yugi that something big was coming. Then the silence became sharper and more pronounced, and anyone in their proximity would sense that they should flee the scene. Then Yugi would pressure Kaiba with questions, probing to get to the bottom of the problem, only to cause a massive eruption. They would fight like a clash of elements, like a hurricane meeting a forest fire, like a tornado meeting a flood, like a blizzard meeting a thunderstorm. When things cooled off, they began the clean up, the process of putting together the pieces and remedying the destruction they'd wrought.

Well, they'd both cooled down now, but Yugi didn't know where to start. So much damage, so many issues that needed to be addressed. The hardest part about fighting with Seto was remembering later on the insults they'd hurled at each other in the heat of the moment.

Brat.

Stupid.

Spoiled.

Fool.

Cruel.

Pathetic.

Killjoy.

Jerk.

Asshole.

Idiot.

Stingy.

Greedy.

Bastard.

Gold-digger.

Psychotic.

Dick.

Heartless.

Cheater.

That last one still stung. They'd fought after Battle City, and Kaiba had accused Yugi of cheating in the finals. Yugi had called him a sore loser. That had been their first fight, and they'd gotten frighteningly close to exchanging blows. Seto had thrown his fist at the wall, punching it hard enough to create a deep hole and to bloody his own hand. Yugi could clearly remember those moments right after Seto's fist had made contact: he'd heard his own heart pounding with fear, felt the rush of adrenaline in his system, felt the flutter of plaster- and paint-dust that had drifted over him from above, heard Kaiba's ragged breathing as his anger finally found an outlet, and he'd blinked the particles out of his eyes even as he fought the sudden urge to cry. He could still hear Seto snarling above him, as Yugi had stared ahead in shock, "Get out."

Yugi had left then, but he wasn't going to leave now.

"I love you, Seto."

Yugi heard footsteps, then he heard the shower turn on. He sighed and turned around, sitting cross-legged with his back against the door. He would wait as long as he needed to. Seto couldn't stay in his bathroom forever.

* * *

 **Author Notes** : So, what do you think, should I just leave them like this, in the middle of a huge fight—that could potentially tear them apart—without any conclusion or continuation?


	12. Resolution

Yugi had been sitting outside Seto's bathroom for only fifteen minutes before he heard his cellphone ringing. He scrambled up from the floor and dashed over to his discarded jeans in time to answer it. His grandfather was wondering where he was, and if he'd be home soon, and if he planned on going grocery shopping anytime soon because the only food in the house was ramen noodles and peanut butter. Yugi hurriedly assured him that yes, he'd be home soon, and he'd take him grocery shopping when he got back. When he hung up, he dressed in some of the fresh clothes he kept in Seto's closet, then jotted a note for Seto on some stationary and slid it under the bathroom door before he left, wishing that he could have stayed as he'd intended to do. He'd hesitated before adding "I love you" at the end of the note, and it hurt that he had to stop and wonder if he should do it or not.

But he _did_ do it, and his heart was heavy as he left the grounds of the Kaiba property.

* * *

Yugi returned to Kaiba's mansion early that evening, leaving his grandfather in Tea's and Joey's company while he was gone. The servants let him in, which was a good sign. If Kaiba had given them orders to refuse Yugi entry, they would have had to turn him away. He asked where Kaiba was; his room. At least he wasn't working. Yugi showed himself to Seto's room, unsure of what he'd find, but bracing himself for anything.

Yugi knocked on the door firmly, then immediately entered, afraid that if he gave Kaiba the chance, he'd just lock the door and make Yugi leave. The room was dimmed by drawn curtains and only a single bedside lamp turned on. Kaiba was sitting in the corner of the room on his laptop, undoubtedly burning his retinas with the screen brightness contrasted with the dark room. The laptop was a sure sign that he was, indeed, working.

"Seto, can I come in?" Yugi asked softly, still standing somewhat in the doorway should he need to make a hasty retreat from the brunette's occasionally violent temper.

"You already are." His retort was bitter, but his voice was low. Yugi entered and carefully closed the door behind him, approaching the other with tentative though steady steps. He carefully sat in the chair next to Seto's, slipping off his shoes and pulling his legs up underneath him. Seto was typing, so he waited for him to close his computer and set it on the side table before speaking. For a few moments, as the only sound in the room was the _clickety_ - _clack_ of computer keys, things felt normal between them. Yugi could almost pretend that everything was normal between them. As soon as the laptop was closed and Kaiba's face was plunged into shadow, and Yugi felt an uneasy sense of dread.

"I told you that I needed time," he remarked gruffly, and Yugi wished that the lights were on so that he could read Seto's expressions. Talking to him was hard enough without a handicap like low lighting.

"I wanted to settle things with you from this morning," Yugi replied calmly. "We weren't quite finished when I had to leave."

"We _were_ finished." Kaiba crossed his arms, and Yugi's pulse went up a notch.

"I'm still trying to understand what you were talking about," Yugi confessed, his voice slightly strained. Kaiba turned his head slightly, looking at some distant point off to the side as he thought, leaving Yugi on pins and needles.

"This isn't working out," he said abruptly, standing and starting to walk away, but Yugi hopped out of the chair and grabbed a hold of Kaiba's shirt to stop him from walking further away. He did stop, and so did Yugi, but neither of them spoke.

"Please, explain to me what I did wrong." Yugi's voice shook as he made his distraught plea, fighting to keep himself steady. "We can fix this, but I need you to help me..."

It was the first time in a long while that Yugi said anything about needing him, and the words pierced right to his heart. He closed his eyes, trying to resist the soft, tender impulses that had developed during the time he'd spent in a relationship with Yugi. He'd made a fatal error by letting Yugi breech his defenses that first time, now he was suffering those consequences. Maybe if he shoved Yugi out, removed him from his life completely, he could harden his heart all over again. Maybe he could be independent again.

"Let go of me," he ordered stiffly, sending a fresh shiver of fear through Yugi's system. His lover released his shirt and threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly from behind.

"I'm not letting go, Seto," Yugi insisted, pressing his face into Kaiba's shirt as his eyes watered. "I'm not letting you shut me out."

"I could have you removed from my property." He made no move to do so.

"I'd sooner go down fighting," Yugi answered, struggling for composure. "Because you're worth fighting for, Seto."

Those words took the tall brunette aback. No one had ever told him that before. He was more likely to be served a honeyed insult than any genuine sentiment or compliment. He shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight the soft desires Yugi always inspired.

He groaned in defeat and seized Yugi's wrist, pulling him out of the embrace and around to Seto's front so that Kaiba could snatch Yugi off the ground and into his arms. Yugi was surprised, but not so surprised that he didn't wrap his limbs around Kaiba's body and holding onto him. Seto's face pressed into his chest, eyes closed as he inhaled his scent: soap and baby powder and clean linen. Yugi may have grown taller, but to Seto, he still felt quite light.

"I _need_ you, Yugi," Seto breathed out, almost inaudibly. He slowly walked towards the luxurious bed. "I needed you, and you weren't there, and I _hated_ that I needed you." He bent down and lay Yugi on his back, hovering over him and supporting himself with his forearms resting on either side of his lover's narrow body.

"I'm here now," the violet-eyed teen murmured, hoping that could make up for something. Seto shifted one hand over to comb away Yugi's blond bangs with his fingers.

"I wanted you, but I couldn't have you... because you pushed me away."

"I never—"

Before Yugi could even complete his protest, Seto had grabbed both of Yugi's wrists and shoved his arms up by his head, pinning them there with blazing eyes.

"Don't tell me it didn't happen," he snarled. "It did. The last morning I was here before my trip."

Yugi was startled by the force of Kaiba's allegation and the sudden shift of his mood. He dug through his memories until he pinpointed the event in question. It took several moments because he'd forgotten about it completely; the interaction hadn't seemed so significant to him, but clearly it had mattered much to Kaiba.

"Oh, Seto, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Do you have any _idea_ how close I came to sleeping with someone else?"

Yugi was stunned, and for a split second, he thought he might burst into tears. It had been so long since Kaiba had looked at him with such fury that he didn't know what to say.

"I _hate_ you. I've _always_ hated you. I hate myself for needing you. I hate myself for wanting you. I hate myself for loving you. _Why do I have to love you?_ " he demanded in anguish, sinking forward until his forehead rested on the bedspread a little above Yugi's head.

Yugi was shocked as his heart began to ache with a pain matching Seto's. He forgot how to breathe, and his mind was too frozen for thought or speech.

"Why do I need to have you in my life?"

Kaiba's voice was dangerously low, and his body shivered with tension. Yugi wished he could see those brilliant blue eyes; maybe they could tell him something Seto wouldn't.

"Why does it have to be _you_?" he demanded again, as if awaiting a divine answer. "You bring out the worst in me-"

"-and the best in you."

"You remind me of everything I wish to forget-"

"-and I keep telling you to look to the future."

"I hate you-"

"-and you love me-"

"-and I can't stand it." Kaiba sagged, his weight pressing Yugi into the mattress with a comforting crush. " _Why_ does it have to be _you_?"

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't _apologize_ , damn it!" Seto tensed momentarily, then sank into the mattress, tipping onto his side so that he didn't squash Yugi entirely. After a few heart pounding moments, he hooked his arm around Yugi's waist and pulled him closer until Yugi's back was flush against his chest. Seto's breathing was heavy and uneven as Yugi leaned back into him with a sigh. Yugi could hear Seto's heart beating loud and strong by his ear, steady as a drum, faster than a bullet. With his lover's heart pounding in his ear, Yugi had a long time to think.

"I'm sorry that I take you for granted," he murmured at last. "I was operating as if you were a given, an unchanging constant in my life, and that wasn't fair of me. Love is about give and take, never just one or the other. I was being selfish, in my own way, and I'm really sorry. I won't let it happen again."

"Thank you," Seto sighed, sounding tired.

"I forget how hard this is for you, sometimes," Yugi confessed, feeling more secure in Seto's embrace now. "You've gotten better, though…

"Don't patronize me."

Yugi could feel Kaiba's breathy growl stirring his hair.

"Doesn't it bother you that I hate you?"

"Not so long as you love me too." Yugi wriggled around so that he could finally look into those bright blue eyes. "I take you as you are, Seto. I always have." Those blue eyes looked surpisingly dull. Yugi touched Seto's cheek and murmured, "You're still tired, aren't you."

"I'm exhausted."

"I think I know how to help you fall asleep."


End file.
